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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pit — a hole
  4. march — the month
  5. staff — employees
  6. bark — to shout
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. lean — to bend
  10. pit — in a race
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. game — a match
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. game — wild animals
  20. staff — a stick
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. staff — employees
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com